Mexico City - New U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau arrived in Mexico City on Friday to take up one of Washington’s most important diplomatic posts, which had been empty for over a year.
Landau replaces Roberta Jacobson, the first woman to be the United States’ envoy to Mexico. She resigned and retired in May 2018.
The North American neighbors are key commercial partners but Landau’s arrival comes after months of tensions over immigration and trade.
Mexico has cracked down on migrants and asylum seekers moving through its territory after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on imports from Mexico. The two governments are hoping for ratification of a trade deal with Canada that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement.
L...

Washington - The pace of U.S. home construction fell a sharp 4% in July despite strong demand from would-be buyers, held back by a shortage of skilled labor and affordable land.
The Commerce Department said Friday that housing starts slipped last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million units. So far this year, housing starts have declined 3.1%. Though there was a slight 1.3% uptick in the construction of single-family homes last month, the gain was offset by a 17.2% plunge in the apartment category.
The construction slowdown, which has persisted all year, is thwarting prospective homebuyers. The solid job market and falling mortgage rates have boosted interest among people seeking homes, yet the shortage of available homes and rising prices have dampened sales. T...

Quetta, Pakistan - A powerful bomb exploded inside a mosque during Friday prayers on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban have had a strong presence, killing at least four worshippers, including the prayer leader, officials said.
Abdul Ali, a local police chief, said the bomb was planted inside the mosque and was remotely detonated. He said about 20 wounded worshippers were taken to nearby hospitals in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
Quetta police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said the bomb was planted under the wooden chair of the prayer leader.
It was unclear who was behind the attack but the mosque is located 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from Kuchlak, a stronghold of Taliban insurgents, where Maulvi Hibatullah Akhunzada once l...

Louisville, KY - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell underwent successful surgery to repair a fracture in his shoulder — an injury he suffered when he fell at his Kentucky home earlier this month.
The surgery occurred Thursday in his hometown of Louisville, a McConnell spokesman said Friday.
“The surgery was performed without incident, and the Leader is grateful to the surgical team for their skill,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said in a brief statement.
McConnell’s staff did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional details about the procedure.
The six-term senator fractured his shoulder when he tripped on his home’s patio during the first weekend of August. He was treated that day and released.
The day before his injury, M...

New York - Three abandoned devices that looked like pressure cookers prompted an evacuation of a major New York City subway station and closed off an intersection in another part of town Friday morning before police determined the objects were not explosives.
Police were looking to talk to a man seen on surveillance video taking two of the rice cookers out of a shopping cart and placing them in the subway station in lower Manhattan. But police emphasized that so far, it wasn’t clear whether he was trying to frighten people or merely throwing the objects away.
“I would stop very short of calling him a suspect,” said John Miller, top New York Police Department counterterror official. “But we need to know the facts behind this.”
“It is possib...

We regret to inform you of the Petira of Mr. Harvey Paretzky z"l, husband of Leah, father of Mrs. Adina Miller and Mordechai, and Shoshana Paretzky.
The Levaya will be this Sunday , August 18th 10:00 AM at Congregation Ohr Torah 48 Edgemount Road Edison , NJ 08817
Shiva -
In Edison: The Family will begin Shiva at the Prupis home at 30 Edgemount Rd Edison, NJ through Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM
Minyamin Times: Shacharis 7:10 AM
Mincha/ Maariv 7:35 PM In Baltimore: Mrs. Adina Miller will then return to her home in Baltimore to sit Shiva at 2807 Damascus Ct Baltimore Md 21209.
There will be no minyanim at the Miller shiva house.
Visiting times: Wednesday 4:00- 9:00, Thursday 10:00- 10:00, Friday 10:00- 5:00
I...

Bike4Chai was an exhilarating experience for Team Baltimore’s 16 cyclists, who raised over $130,000 with donations from nearly 1,200 donors, helping to pay for nearly half of the Baltimore area children who attend Camp Simcha/Special, the free medical camp of Chai Lifeline for children with critical illnesses.When the riders arrived at the Poconos on Wednesday, Shaya Lerner and Gavriel Wealcatch made a siyum, lz'n Moshe Moskowitz. Moshe was a rider in Bike 4 Chai in 2016, the youngest rider to ever ride Bike 4 Chai at that time.The Day 1 ride was a grueling 109 miles from Princeton, NJ to the Pocono Mountains in PA.The Day 2 ride was about 60 miles up to Camp Simcha in the Catskill mountains.The Bike4Chai volunteers and staff made the experience personal, comfortable, and ...

Crime and Capital Punishment
So accustomed are we to incarceration as punishment that it’s easy to forget that punitive confinement is entirely absent from the Jewish mesorah.
To be sure, the Torah allows for – and even describes two cases of – the jailing of suspects, but only as a temporary measure, until guilt is established or ruled out. The idea of prison as punishment is a relatively recent one, usually traced to the 18th century British philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham.
And, at least in the U.S., prisons often seem to harden criminals. I have often wondered if corporal punishment might present a less onerous and more effective deterrent. That idea might be shocking, but, the concept of long-term confinement with other crim...

Our community is blessed with youth who are passionate about Eretz Yisroel and can articulate their connection and appreciation clearly. As a result, each entry in the first annual Libi BaMizrach essay contest was emotional, creative and well-thought out, making it difficult to select just one top essay in each age category. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit your outstanding work! A special Mazal tov to Tova Rachel Paige in the middle school category and Rivka Benyowitz in the high school category! Their essays were selected by a panel of judges and the winners will each be receiving a free ticket to Israel for their exceptional essays.
Middle School winner:My Heart is in the East and I am at the End of the West.By: Tova Rachel PaigeGrade 8, Bais ...

Much has been written about the relatively minor differences between the Aseres Hadibros given by Hashem in Parshas Yisro and those repeated in this weeks Parsha. Some of the commentaries add beautiful thoughts and reasons for these distinctions. Nevertheless, we cannot lose sight of the fact that in something as significant as the Aseres Hadibros, each word, each letter requires the utmost concentration in study and analysis so that any slight changes are not glossed over or Chas V'Shalom, lost on us.
In the final commandment, Lo Sachmod, there are three such changes. First, in this weeks Parsha we are told initially “not to covet your neighbors wife and not to desire your friend...

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has announced that she will not visit her grandmother after all.
In a Friday morning tweet, Tlaib wrote: "My sity wanted to pick figs w/ me. I broke down reading this & worry every single day after I won for my family's safety. My cousin was texting me which photo of @IlhanMN & I they should put on a welcoming poster when I heard the news. I couldn't tell her."
"When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions. I can't allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies," she added.
Tlaib concluded, "Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what...

Two teenagers were seriously injured Friday afternoon in a ramming attack near the entrance to the Gush Etzion town of Elazar, Magen David Adom (MDA) reported.
The victims have been identified as a 19-year-old sister and her 17-year-old brother from Gush Etzion.
The boy was seriously injured, while his sister was moderately injured.
Both victims were treated by MDA and have been transferred to Jerusalem hospitals.
Professor Yoram Weiss, Medical Director at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, described the boy's injuries as "very serious."
"He has a brain injury and a fracture in his skull," Prof. Weiss said. "His life is in danger."
The boy's sister suffered injuries and is currently hospitalized in the trauma department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Shaare Zedek Director-Gener...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s interior minister said Friday he has received and granted a request by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib to enter the Israeli-occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds.
The decision marked the latest sharp reversal over what had been a planned visit by Tlaib and fellow Democrat, Rep. Ilhan Omar, to Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On Thursday, Israel had announced it is barring the two from entry — an unprecedented move targeting members of the U.S. Congress. Israel’s decision came after President Donald Trump said in a tweet it would show “weakness” to allow in the two Muslim members of Congress who have been sharply critical of him and of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.
The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Neta...

Two teenagers were seriously injured Friday afternoon in a ramming attack near the entrance to the Gush Etzion town of Elazar, Magen David Adom (MDA) reported.
The victims have been identified as a 17-year-old boy, who is seriously injured, and a 19-year-old girl, who was moderately injured.
Both victims were treated by MDA and have been transferred to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
The terrorist has been neutralized.
MDA paramedic Lior Levi said: "When we arrived at the scene we saw a 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old youth in the ditch behind the bus stop. The boy was unresponsive and suffered a head injury as well as injuries to multiple bodily systems, and the girl was partially conscious."
"We administered lifesaving medical treatment, including sedating the boy an...

A van carrying bochurim traveling in Virginia has overturned. The bochurim have sustained injuries.
The bochurim are in Virginia as part of a bein hazemanim camp there.
All are asked to say Tehillim for the boys.

On the evening of August 14, 2019 on a quiet street in the Cheswolde neighborhood of Baltimore City, dozens of emergency personnel and vehicles convened. It was not the scene of a large emergency response, but quite the contrary. Members of multiple law enforcement, fire, rescue and volunteer groups came to participate in the 5th annual Cheswolde Neighborhood Association’s National Night Out tradition highlighting and celebrating the first responder-community partnership. The family-oriented event attracted over 1,000 members of the community, who were able to interact with many of the unique units of the Baltimore City Police Department including the crime lab, mounted, K-9, motorcycle and bomb squad. There was also strong representation present from the Maryland Transit Admin...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A 64-year-old man was indicted Thursday on the federal charge of making threats to a synagogue.
Between May 12 and May 13, Stephen Lyle Orback made multiple telephone calls to an employee of a synagogue in Owings Mills, Md., threatening to kill many members of that Jewish congregation, the indictment said.
He was specifically indicted on the federal charge of making threatening communications, multiple telephone calls threatening the synagogue.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. He is currently being detained in Colorado on unrelated state charges.